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Members of the League of German Girls practice their gymnastics routine

Members of the League of German Girls practice gymnastics at a sports festival, 1933-1939. The Hitler Youth combined sports and outdoor activities with ideology. Similarly, the League of German Girls emphasized collective athletics, such as rhythmic gymnastics, which German health authorities deemed less strenuous to the female body and better geared to preparing them for motherhood. Their public displays of these values encouraged young men and women to abandon their individuality in favor of the "Aryan" collective.